Cancer News

TUESDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -- Men who are smokers at the time of prostate cancer diagnosis have an increased risk of total mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, prostate cancer mortality, and recurrence, according to a study published in the June 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Stacey A. Kenfield, Sc.D., from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues investigated the association of cigarette smoking and quitting smoking with overall and CVD mortality, prostate cancer-specific mortality, and biochemical recurrence among men with prostate cancer. Data from 5,366 men with prostate cancer between 1986 and 2006 were collected from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The main outcome measured was the hazard ratio (HR) for prostate-cancer specific, CVD, and overall mortality, and biochemical recurrence which was defined by an increase in prostate-specific antigen levels.

The investigators found that, of the 1,630 documented deaths, 524 (32 percent) were due to prostate cancer and 416 (26 percent) to CVD, and 878 biochemical recurrences were recorded. Compared with never smokers, current smokers faced an increased risk of biochemical recurrence (HR, 1.61), total mortality (HR, 2.28), and CVD mortality (HR, 2.13), after adjusting for confounders. Ten-year quitters had prostate cancer mortality risks similar to never smokers (HR, 0.60 and 0.61, respectively). A higher number of pack-years was significantly correlated with an elevated risk of prostate cancer mortality, but not recurrence.

"Smoking at the time of diagnosis was associated with substantially increased overall mortality and prostate cancer mortality and recurrence. Ten-year quitters had risks similar to never smokers," the authors write.